Tomato Pie

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt, divided
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons or 3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 2 teaspoons melted
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 3/4 pounds beefsteak tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups corn (from about 3 ears), coarsely chopped by hand, divided
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped basil, divided
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives, divided (I like to add 1/4 cup green onions in place of this if available)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 7ounces coarsely grated sharp Cheddar (1 3/4 cups), divided (If your cheese comes in an 8oz block, use it all – no harm done by extra cheese!)

Directions

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 3/4 tsp salt in a bowl, then blend in cold butter (3/4 stick) with your fingertips or a pastry blender until it resembles coarse meal. Add milk, stirring until mixture just forms a dough, then gather into a ball.  (You’ll see in the pictures I tried out making the dough in a food processor to save time.  I think mixing by hand is better.)

Divide dough in half and roll out one piece on a well-floured counter into a 12-inch round (1/8 inch thick). Either fold the round gently in quarters, lift it into a 9-inch pie plate and gently unfold and center it or lift dough using the rolling pin. Pat the dough in with your fingersand trim any overhang.

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. If your kitchen is excessively warm, as ours is, go ahead and put the second half of the dough in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. Whisk together mayonnaise and lemon juice.

Cut an X in bottom of each tomato and blanch in a large pot of boiling water 10 seconds. Immediately transfer with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to cool. Peel tomatoes, then slice crosswise 1/4 inch thick and gently remove seeds and extra juices. Arrange half of tomatoes in crust, overlapping, and sprinkle with half of corn, one tablespoon basil, 1/2 tablespoon chives, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and one cup of grated cheese. Repeat layering with remaining tomatoes, corn, basil, chives, salt, and pepper. Pour lemon mayonnaise over filling and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Roll out remaining piece of dough into a 12-inch round in same manner, then fit over filling, folding overhang under edge of bottom crust and pinching edge to seal. Cut 4 steam vents in top crust and brush crust with melted butter (2 teaspoons). Bake pie until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes, then cool on a rack. Serve warm.

—Photo note:since my camera had a mishap at the beach, I’m stuck with only a cell phone and poor photo quality.  Click over to Smitten Kitchen or Gourmet via the links above for photos that do this recipe justice.—